Means for simultaneously locking sliding drawers, shelves, or other sliding structures



W. CHIPPERFIELD. MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY LOCKING SLIDING DRAWERS, SHELVES, OR OTHER SLIDING STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, I920.

Patented Sept. 21', 1920.

4 W. CHIPPERFIELD. MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLYV LOCKING SLIDING DRAWERS, SHELVES, 0R OTHER suomc STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-5,1920.

1,353,453. Patemsept. 21,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. CHIPPERF IELD. 7 MEANSFOR SIMULTANEOUSLY LOCKING SLIDING DRAWERS, S'HELVES, OR OTHER SLIDING STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-5, 1920.

PatentedSept. 21,1920.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED WALTERCHIPPERFIELD, or Ronrronn, nnsrann, assrenonro RONEOVLFIMITED, by

-LONDON,-E1\TGLAND,.A oorrPAN rcrsnnarsnrmm;

MEANS FOR sIMuLTANEo sLY ooKIii-s s me sarwms, SHELV'E bRf i E Q l l sLInINssrR crUREs. i

To all whom itvmag concern: I

Be" it known that I, WA rE'R CHIPPER- FIELD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing'at Roneo Works, Romford, in

the county-,ofEsseX, England, Great Brit ain, havejinvented new and useful Improve-- ments in or Relating to Means for Simultaneously Locking Sliding Drawers, Shelves,- or other Sliding Structures, of which the' following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements'in or relating to means for simultaneously locking sliding drawers, shelves, or other sliding structures, and has for its obje'ctto so construct locking mechanism whereby when all the drawers of a series are properly closed and the lock actuating rodis pushed home, all the drawerswillbe simultaneously locked, but shouldone or more of the said drawers be placed in a nearly closed position, the locking mechanism when" actuated will complete. the closure of such nearly closed drawer or drawers and the whole of the series will then be simultaneously locked. Further if any one of the series of drawers is left open to such an extent that it does not become'automatically closed bythe action of the locking mechanism, such a drawer upon being pushed into its closed position will thereupon be-- come locked without bringing about or causing any motion of the locking rods themselves; The invention ismoreover directed to providing a locking device'which islittle if at all affected by friction, and which is not liable to jam, and also in which the strength of the springs employed can bemateriaHy reduced, as compared with previous constructions.

The invention will be fully described with referenceto the accompanying drawings, whereon, Figure 1. shows in vertlcal section so much of a case containing a sliding drawer as is necessary to describe the locking mechanism shown applied thereto according to this invention, the drawer being shown locked. Fig. 2. is a sectional plan view of the locking mechanism corresponding to Fig. 1. Fig. 3. is a sectional elevat1on showing the locking devices in the unlocked position. Fig, 4. is a similarview showing the locln'ng' mechanism in the act of effect ing the closure of a drawer. which has been left very nearly closed, and Fig. 5. is a similar View showing drawer whichhasbeen left open in the act'of being -pushed'into its closed and locked positioni" I Refernng to f the d1awings,feach' drawer 1, isfittedbeneath its base and'at its rear end withalocking arm 2 'pi votedto a bracket 4 fixed to the base of thegdrawer,

the free end 'ofthe arm 2 extendingto or towardthe rear-end I of the drawenl, and

the arm 2 is normally-held up towardor in contact with the-base of the jdrawerby alight spring 5. v The rear endv ofthe tical' face :6, from the upper'edge of which there proceeds an upper rearwardly and downwardly inclined lip 7, and from' the' extends at right angles to. the direction of motion of the slidingdrawer;

At the rear of-the sliding drawersfl and carried by suitable guides on the interior 7 arm 2 is formed with a cam shaped member comprismg a rear ver- Specification of LettersPatent; I .Patgntedisept Application filed January 5, 1920;. Serial No. 349,539,

surface of the back of the case, is a locking rod 9 capable of receiving'yertical sliding motions, and for each drawer the locking rod 9 carries a roller 1O. "Each roller lO is revolubly carried on a pivot pin, which latter is supported'by a bracket '11, see Figs, 2 and 5, in asuitable manner at'a proper distance from the locking rod 9.1 The loca-r tion of the; rollers 10, when-the drawers are closed and unlocked is such as shown atiFig'. 3. and the peripheries of said rollers-are at a lower level than the lower edges ofthe cam members carried by or formed upon the locking arms 2. When a drawer so fitted is completely closed, see Fig. 8. the plane of the forward vertical face 6 of, the cam mem-. ber of the locking arm 2 is at the rear of theroller 10 carried by the vertical locking rod 9 and is tangential with its periphery.

It will now be understood'that when the vertical locking rod 9 is given an upward vertical movement, the rollers 10, in accom- V panying such movement, will pass respecively in' front of the cam member of the locking arms 2, and the peripheries of the rollers will contact with the forward vertical faces 6 of the cam members and thereby all the drawers will be locked. h/Ioreover it-isalso to be observed that the rollers i in engaging the cam members will turn about their axis and the locking motion thuseffected with the minimum of friction,

which" is an important consideration inl this manufacture.

Should one or more of the drawers be nearly but not completely closed as shown at Fig. 4, its locking rollers 10, by the upward motion of the locking rod 9 will be brought to act upon the under surfaces of v the lower rearwardly inclined lip 8 of the camfmember of the locking arm 2, and whereby the drawer will be caused to com= plete its closure as the roller 10 passes up the inclined ,lip 8 of the cam member, and

the drawerwillbe locked when the roller 10 .has completed its upward movement and stands in 'front'of the vertical face 6 of the cam member.

3 Should the-"drawer not be suificiently closed to permit such automatic closure to be effected during the operation of the lock ing'devices, then obviously the locking roller 10 of each drawer 1 would pass upward into locking position at the rear of the cam mem-.

ber of .the locking .arm 2, and the drawer would be neither closed nor locked; In such a case upon the drawer being pushed home, the upper lip 7 of the cam member of the locking :arm2 would strike the roller 10 as ticular means by which the vertical lockingrod is brought to and held in its locking position by operating devices actuated from a the exterior of thercase, but such may convenientlyconsist, asshown at l ig-yl. of a horizontal. sliding rod 11* in the upperpart of the casing 12, one end of which horizontal rod 11* extends to theexteriorofthe case, while the other end is connected to one arm of atwo armed lever 13 the other arm of which operates the'verticallockiirg rod 9. 'Having thus described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows v 1.,Means for lock ng sliding drawers, shelves, and other sliding structures comprising a vertically movable locking .r0d,ia

roller or equivalent thereon for .each drawer.

or the like to be locked, and means operable from the exterior of the case for raising and holding said rod in its looking position, -in combination with a pivotedlocking arm on each drawer extending rearwardly' and about horizontally in the direction of :mo-

tion of said drawer, its free rear end being capable of motion in one (say a downward) direction against spring action, and a cam shapedmember carriedon the rearend of said arm such that when said locking arm is raised a roller. carried thereby passes front of said cam member and locks .said drawer, and when said drawer is very nearly closed the'lock-ing roller acts on a surface of said cam member, closes the drawer, andeffects its locking action, while should Said drawer be pushed home after the rod has been raised to the locking position, said (cam member contacts with said roller, the locking arm is raised, and ,said cam member passes beneath and behind the roller-andet fects the locking action. I

2. Means for locking sliding drawers, comprising a bracket secured to the baseof each drawer, a spring-controlledlocking arm pivoted to said bracket, the free ,end of said arm forminga cam member-comprising a plurality of cam surfaces, a vertically movable rod, a bracket secured tosaid rod, and a roller carried by said bracketlforem gaging said cam surfaces.

In testimony whereof I. have signed my name to this specification.

WALTER HIP ERFIELD. 

